The present invention relates to the field of vehicle devices, and, more particularly, to a tracking and alerting system for a vehicle.
Motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, trucks, busses, fleet vehicles, etc. are widely used and knowing the locations of such vehicles is often desired. For example, should a vehicle be stolen, it would be beneficial to know the vehicle""s location so that authorities could be promptly and accurately directed to retrieve the vehicle. Indeed, the tracking system could plot the getaway path of the thief.
For a company with hired drivers, it may be desirable to know the driver""s whereabouts during the course of the day. Similarly, a rental car agency or other fleet operator, for example, may wish to know the whereabouts of its fleet of vehicles.
It may also be desirable to track the location of a vehicle as it is used throughout the course of a normal day. For parents of younger or older drivers, for example, knowledge of the vehicle""s location may provide some assurance that the driver is at designated locations and following a prescribed route.
A number of patents disclose various systems and approaches to tracking vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844 discloses a tracking system including a control center and a mobile unit installed in the vehicle. The mobile unit may send security warnings to the command center via a wireless transceiver. Position information for the vehicle is determined using a GPS receiver at the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,043 discloses a similar system which may send one or more preprogrammed telephone messages to a user when away from the vehicle. The user may remotely access location information or cause certain commands to be carried out by entering a personal identification number (PIN).
The widespread availability and use of the Internet has prompted a number of vehicle tracking systems to also make use of the Internet. For example, TelEvoke, Inc. proposed such a system in combination with Clifford Electronics. The system was to provide notification, control and tracking services via the telephone or the Internet. Users could be notified via phone, e-mail, or pager of events such as a car alarm being triggered. Users could control the vehicle remote devices via phone, web, or PDA such as unlocking car doors. Additionally, users could track TelEvoke-enabled vehicles on the Internet or via the telephone. An Internet map could be viewed by the user showing the actual and prior vehicle locations. TelEvoke offered its services via a centralized fully automated Network Operations Center. To reduce the communications costs, it was proposed to use the control channel of the cellular telephone network.
Many conventional vehicle tracking units include many input and output connections. Accordingly, such units may be difficult to install in a vehicle. This is especially so since the space available to access and connect to vehicle wires is likely to be restricted. Accordingly, errors in the initial installation may occur. Accurate diagnosis of any such errors may be time consuming and add further to the installation costs. Maintenance of an installed system may also be complicated if each connection must be individually checked and rechecked.
In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle tracking unit having alarm indication alert features and related methods.
This and other objects, features, and advantages in accordance with the present invention are provided by a vehicle tracking unit for a vehicle of a type including at least one vehicle sensor. The vehicle tracking unit may include a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a controller connected to the wireless communications device and the vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station. Furthermore, the controller may cooperate with the wireless communications device to send an alarm indication alert to the monitoring station based upon the at least one vehicle sensor. Additionally, the controller may stop sending further alarm indication alerts upon reaching a predetermined number thereof. By so doing, if the at least one vehicle sensor has been falsely activated (e.g., an alarm indicator activated by thunder), the user need not receive numerous alarm indication alerts and may avoid the wireless communications charges associated therewith.
More particularly, the controller may be resettable to again send an alarm indication alert. Further, the controller may be switchable between armed and disarmed modes, and the controller may be reset upon being switched between armed and disarmed modes. The vehicle may also include an ignition switch, and the controller may be switchable between armed and disarmed modes based upon the ignition switch. Also, the at least one vehicle sensor may be controllable by a remote transmitter, and the controller may switch between armed and disarmed modes based upon the at least one vehicle sensor being controlled by the remote transmitter. The controller may additionally switch between armed and disarmed modes based upon a signal from the monitoring station.
In addition, the controller may also cooperate with the vehicle position determining device and the wireless communications device to send an alert message to the monitoring station based upon the vehicle changing location while the controller is in the armed mode. Furthermore, the controller may stop sending of further alarm indications upon reaching the predetermined number thereof occurring within a predetermined time. By way of example, the predetermined number of alarm indication alerts may be in a range of one to five alarm indication alerts.
The vehicle tracking unit may further include a housing, and the vehicle position determining device, the wireless communications device, and the controller may be carried by the housing. Additionally, the vehicle position determining device may be a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, and the wireless communications device may be a cellular telephone communications device, for example. The cellular telephone communications device may communicate over a cellular control channel. Further, the at least one vehicle sensor may include at least one of a vehicle horn, a vehicle siren, a vehicle parking light, a vehicle headlight, a vehicle turning direction indicator, a vehicle hazard light, a vehicle door switch, and a vehicle dome light.
A vehicle monitoring method for a vehicle of a type including at least one vehicle sensor and vehicle tracking unit, such as the one described briefly above, is also provided in accordance with the present invention. The method may include sending an alarm indication alert to the monitoring station based upon the at least one vehicle sensor and using the controller and the wireless communications device, and stopping sending of further alarm indication alerts upon reaching a predetermined number thereof.